I Am Not Yours

Friend

October 1914

"Any chance that's for me?" Bill asked Abigail as she stepped into the Mountie's office the next day with a basket of food.

"Actually, it's for Henry." She told him.

Henry heard her voice from his cell and stood up from the thin slab of wood that they call a bed in there. "Well, if you're really hungry, Bill, I'd be happy to trade places with you." Henry joked.

Abigail held back a chuckle as Bill ignored Henry's words. "Your greatest fault is your kindness." Bill told Abigail as he walked around the Mountie desk to go unlock Henry's cell.

"When's the trial?" Abigail asked Bill as she followed him to the cell.

"Not soon enough." Bill told her with disdain.

"I thought we were becoming friends, Bill." Henry said with a half smirk, honestly having fun teasing him.

"Hm. That must mean that you're gonna plead insanity." Mr. Avery told Henry as he unlocked the cell door and opened it for Abigail.

Henry actually chuckled at that and Abigail couldn't help but smile as she stepped through the door to hand Henry the basket of food. "I'm glad you decided to testify against the railroad, Henry." She told him, actually feeling quite proud of him. "It was the right thing to do."

"Well, in truth, I did it to save my own skin, Abigail." He said, vowing to himself that he was done lying to her from now on.

"Hm, I see." She nodded, though she didn't believe that was entirely true. "And when you stopped Ray Wyatt from shooting Bill...was THAT to save your own skin too?" She asked him.

Henry's half smile faded a bit, knowing that this was about to turn into another talk about how he could change into a good man with a second chance. "You can go now." He told her, feeling as if he didn't deserve anymore chances and she shouldn't speak to him as if he did. Abigail internally sighed, looking down at the floor as she realized he was still just as stubborn as ever and she moved to turn when Henry spoke again. "Thank you for lunch." He said, and his tone told her that he really meant it and she smiled at him again.

Just as she nodded, she saw a look in his eyes as if he were begging her to forgive him yet again and it caused something inside of her to change everything she had thought about him in the past. A part of her wanted to beg Bill to let him go, but she knew that would be wrong and she left, wishing she could have gone back in time and been nicer to Henry years ago. Perhaps he never would have gotten himself in this sticky situation. She stepped outside and shook her head at herself for thinking that she was to blame and she headed for the Mayor's Office to get some town's paperwork finished seeing as she was the acting mayor once again.

November 1914

Another few weeks passed and the winter air came early, growing frost on the cafe's windows. Abigail was aware that Henry was to be moved to a prison closer to Cape Fullerton soon. She awoke earlier than usual one morning to make him a nice warm breakfast and she took it over to the jail. As she stepped inside, she saw the door to the Mountie bedroom was closed, telling her that Bill had not awakened for the day yet and she quietly closed the front door behind her.

She took small light steps over toward the jail cell and set the basket of food down on the floor, close to the bars. She looked at Henry's figure in the dark before lighting a match on the table beside the cell and lighting the lantern that was hanging up on the wall. With the lantern lit, she could see Henry better and she sighed to herself, watching him sleep for a moment before going to the Mountie desk. She set the lantern on the desk and got a piece of paper and a pencil from it, beginning to write Henry a note to leave with his breakfast.